This is Real
by Script Savage
Summary: He hadn't said anything at the time, for fear of ruining the moment; but in the back of his mind, he wondered: 'Of course it's real…why wouldn't it be'


**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

**This is just another short drabble; the scene from KHII in The World That Never Was, where Kairi hugs Sora and says "This is real…" has always interested me, so this is my take on the conversation that would have no doubt have taken place once Sora and Riku arrived home.**

**Enjoy!**

_**This is Real**_

o-o-o-o-o

_He hadn't said anything at the time, for fear of ruining the moment; but in the back of his mind, he wondered: 'Of course it's real…why wouldn't it be?'_

o-o-o-o-o

Kairi is beautiful.

True, she has always been beautiful, but Sora's never really taken the time to appreciate that fact until now.

Kairi stands before him now, completely unaware of his presence, clad only in a pink bikini; not that Sora's complaining about that last bit.

She certainly has changed over the year-and-a-half he's been gone, and all—at least in his opinion—for the better. More than once he's had to force himself to look away from her—especially when she's scantily clad, as she is now—because his eyes are glued to her incredibly attractive physique.

Sora's eyes roam over the curve of her hips, the flat-toned expanse of her stomach—she definitely hasn't been lazy while he was away—and his eyes are certainly no strangers to the swell of her breasts, a fact that Kairi is aware of and has cuffed him upside the head for on more than one occasion.

Even though Sora could spend an eternity admiring Kairi's body, his instincts tell him that something is wrong. It doesn't escape his notice however, the way she's staring listlessly out over the ocean, her eyes blank and unfocused.

"Kairi?"

She flinches, jerking as though she's been burned, and when she turns to face him, her hand relaxes against her chest and she gives him an uneasy smile.

"Oh, hey, Sora. You startled me." Kairi's bright smile is infectious, but her accompanying giggle is more unsettled than lighthearted; Sora can't shake the feeling that she's hiding something

Sora swallows past the sudden blockage in his throat, and tries to calm his racing heart.

Kairi reaches out to stroke his cheek, a gesture that is at once comforting and terrifying. Her intense indigo eyes gaze deeply into his, and Sora gives up all hope of settling his nerves.

"Sora…what's wrong?" Kairi wonders.

Sora briefly wonders how she can tell—and then, he realizes that his mannerisms are a dead giveaway.

"I need to talk to you, Kairi." He confesses, slightly disappointed at the lack of relief at this admission.

Kairi places her hands on her knees and leans forward, peering into his eyes with concern etched over her face. "Sora…what's bothering you? Are you okay?"

Sora takes a deep breath and lets it out shakily. "In The World That Never Was…When you hugged me…You said 'this is real'. What did you mean by that?"

Kairi bites her lip and turns away from him; her actions only serve to worsen the dread curdling in the pit of his stomach. "I don't want to talk about it." She says, with a hard edge to her voice that hadn't there a moment ago.

She turns away from him, her thin shoulders shaking almost imperceptibly.

Sora reaches out to her, desperate to ease the hurt she's obviously feeling, but Kairi denies him the chance when she whirls and shoves him away, her teeth clenched, her face a mask of rage and despair.

"_You left me!_" she wails, her wounded cry is like a knife that pierces to the very core of Sora's being, prompting him to utter what has to be the most pathetically inadequate coupling of words in the English language.

"I'm sorry."

Kairi laughs then, a slow, mirthless, bitter sound. "Do you have any _idea _what I went through while you and Riku were out there, gallivanting across the cosmos, sticking your neck out for people you didn't even know, putting your lives on the line for people who might not have needed or wanted your help?"

Sora blinks.

No one has ever put it to him quite that way before—well, with the exception of King Triton, and even the merman king hadn't quite been so blunt about it.

Still, Sora can't bring himself to deny the fact that Kairi has a point…

"No," he concedes. "I can't imagine what that must've been like, Kai. I never wanted to hurt you…I…I thought I was doing the right thing." He confesses.

Kairi's indigo stare is piercing, and his time away from her hasn't done him any favors; he'd almost forgotten how intense her glares can be when she really wants to make him squirm—he'd daresay they were on par with his mother's.

The slim, auburn-haired girl blows out a long sigh and tucks a few rebellious strands of hair behind her ear. "

"I guess it's not _completely_ your fault. Absence really does make the heart grow fonder…I just couldn't see that until you weren't here anymore."

Sora has to resist the urge to pinch himself, just to make sure he's not dreaming.

"You should know, Sora, that while you were away…I forgot about you."

The realization stings, though less so because Sora's heard the same thing a dozen times over from his friends in other worlds, and thus knows that it shouldn't come as a surprise.

"Well, not completely, I knew that there was someone out there somewhere, and I knew that we were connected, I just forgot that it was _you_ were for a little while."

Kairi chokes up and dashes at her eyes before continuing. "And that made it so much harder. It was…It was almost like being haunted I guess. I wanted to believe that you were real and tangible so badly that I started hallucinating…"

"Oh, Kairi…" Sora reaches out to her again, and this time she allows him to embrace her, drawing comfort from his presence.

"My parents took me to see three different psychiatrists, and they wanted to have me committed…it was awful. But, I knew, that deep down, I wasn't crazy, so I toughed it out. Then, when my memories came back and I realized how long you'd been gone, I couldn't just sit around and wait for you anymore, so I went looking for you."

Kairi wipes her eyes again, tears rolling down her cheeks as she continues.

"When I finally found you, in The World That Never Was, I almost couldn't believe it. And then, as I hugged you, and I could literally touch you, then I knew; I wasn't dreaming, wasn't hallucinating, you were really, actually there with me. That's why I said it."

Sora lets out a long breath; it's a lot of information to process, although he can't really blame her for being angry.

"I'm sorry," he says again. "I didn't realize what I put you through…" He extends a hand hoping, praying that she won't reject him, because if she does, he might just die on the spot. "Next time, we'll go together."

Kairi takes his hand and smiles at him, and the universe is right again. "Okay."

**And…that's a wrap! Let me know what you think!**

**~Script**


End file.
